We've worked hard the past two days in Pittsburgh, and we're tired. The nervous energy of youth who are exhausted and yet excited has taken hold of the group. Even so, I'm amazed at the hard work and great attitudes of each of the students. They've accomplished much, and it is true that each student has chipped in and worked incredibly hard. John Taylor's team begged to go back to finish their shed, and so we sent them and a few extras back to Butler to finish the 12x20 project they started. (Tyler, Ben, Nick, Sarah T. and Rosie). A minor midday accident prevented them from putting on the roof (a wall fell down before they were all tied together, and they had to spend time putting it back up). Nevertheless, the group did an amazing job of helping the Lighthouse mission in Butler (a mission started by one of the Presbyterian churches in the area) a great deal and saved them nearly $3,000.
Two of the other teams spent the day at the Pittsburgh Urban Christian School. Sarah N, Laurie, Kristen and Andrew spent the morning turning a trash-filled playground into a beautiful and revitalized playplace for inner city kids (and the school). Numerous pedestrians stopped to give thanks for the work they were doing. Diane Werner's team worked inside the school reshelving books, cleaning desks and doing some light lifting. The school, with a commitment to being a light for Christ in an urban setting, will look better this fall because of our efforts.
Marie's team worked the morning at Bellefield and they met up with Andrew's team and Diane's team to make 50 lunches and take 60 bottles of water to Market Square where we all ate with homeless people and shared our stories, and listened to theirs. It was amazing to hear about J.D. -- an African-American man who has been on the street 14 months since his wife died of cancer and he spent everything he had on her treatment and funeral. Or the story of John whose family owned three successful print shops in the area, but whose brother stole the business out from under him when their father died. After nine years in court, John was left penniless and broken. He's been off-and-on the street since 1994. Our students heard many stories and some of them had the opportunity to share a bit about their own story highlighted by their faith in God. Many of them had the opportunity to pray prayers of blessing upon those they encountered. We were were also impressed to find some vibrant faith among serveral of the people we encountered. One man, Andre, asked to pray for us, and I have to admit it was one of the most profound and powerful prayers I've heard in a long time. In many ways, we were the ones ministered to today.
We finished the day with a round of great Polish food at Clara's Pierogies where we had our picture taken and added to the restaurant wall. Back at the church we spent an hour sharing what God is doing in our lives and the amazing things we have witnessed already among those in our group.
Below you'll find a few comments from students: (PS -- We travel to Canton Wednesday, so it may be a while before you hear from us again):
Doug and Matt, I miss you guys too, Hope all is well on the home front, Take care of eachother, We’ll talk to you tomorrow
Love, Marie
Hey mommy! Thanks for writing, I didn’t think you would. Yesterday I cleaned up the church and ate lunch with a homeless man. Today I cleaned up a park and ate lunch with homeless people again except it was more of a group of us. This experience has been so great so far. I hope you guys are having fun, how is daddy feeling? Tell Gabs I said hi! I love you guys!!
Love
Sarah N
Dear Pa and Memom,
I’am doing well. I’ve been cleaning up the church and feeding homeless people, it is really fun. Talk to you later.
Megan
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